PCSO Ben Perry as 'Smash 'n' Carry Harry'

A local PCSO, posing as opportunist thief ‘Smash ‘n’ Carry Harry’, has been reminding residents in the Bolsover and Clowne areas, about their car, home and garden security.

The campaign, which took place in August, saw a PC or PCSO from the local Safer Neighbourhood policing teams prowling the streets to look for open windows, unlocked doors and valuables which had been left on show.

A uniformed officer accompanied Harry to offer residents advice on crime prevention and hand out security packs donated by the Bolsover Community Safety Partnership.

The initiative took place in the Bolsover, Barlborough, Clowne, Creswell and Whitwell areas among others.

PCSO Ben Perry, who played the part of Harry and helped organised the campaign, said: “The initiative has been a great success.”

“We have found insecurities but people have also challenged us.”

“What was most impressive was that although we still found residents who did not think to lock up or remove valuables, there were not as many as when we carried out the same campaign four years ago.”

The teams also used their Twitter accounts to promote their patrols each day and chatted to their followers about what they had found.

“Residents in those areas we targeted last time had carried out the recommended improvements, and made their homes and cars less inviting to thieves.”

“The main aim was to increase awareness and make people think twice about security and we hope that the campaign will have acted as a reminder to residents to think about keeping their property safe.”